Darkness Awaits
by theGhostflyer
Summary: New Squeal to Mars Alight. Other version will remain up for a bit longer. Several years have passed since Khyron's defeat. Now, the RDF and UEG are calling upon their heroes once more in an attempt to prevent another Extinction Level Event...Humanity is facing the real possibility of vanishing into the coldness of history.


**A/N: Alright all. I'm scrapping the Original Mars Alight Squeal. Mostly as I don't even remember nor have the original outline anymore. This tale will have several scenes that'll use the material I already had posted, but this is a completely different attempt. Please be patent as I work full time now as a Spectrum Plant Maintenance Technician on 2nd shift so...my time is gonna be limited. I only promise to update as I can and to get this completed. Anyway, here ya guys go.**

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Chapter 1

The sky was beautifully clear. Not a cloud in sight as the morning sun began to climb it's way along the sky. The city was bustling with activity as people rushed to finish the few details for the ceremony this after noon. Scanning the flight line as a five ship formation hurtled into the sky, their engines blazing an electric blue, the dark haired man watched them climb high. Sighing, he tore his eyes from the fighters as they began banking to the east and turned his attention to the woman beside him.

"You ready for today?"

She nodded as she too looked away from the sight of the fighters. "I think so. What about you?"

"I'm not exceptionally happy about leaving our daughter here." He began, frowning. "But I guess I can understand the reasons behind it."

The woman placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I feel the same but our mission is too dangerous. I know for a fact Miriya was just as upset with the idea as us."

The man snorted. "She probably reacted fairly violently as a matter of fact. I don't know how Max walked out of that room with all his limbs attached."

"That's not nice Rick." The woman scolded though she had to admit he had a point. "Besides, we don't know how long this could take. We could only be gone a few months"

Rick Hunter gave the woman a small smile.

"I thought I was supposed to be the optimist here Lisa."

Lisa Hunter flashed him a bright smile.

"As your wife, I'm supposed to be your partner." She squeezed his hand. "What ever you don't have I got, rememeber?"

"As if I could forget. Lets get this done." He stated calmly, once last glance toward the city where their daughter would be.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Glad you two stopped by." Roy greeted them. "Claudia already picked up Pop and you're little demon."

"Ha ha Roy." Lisa scowled. "Whose kids set fire to their house again?"

Rick snickered as Roy deflated. The twins had managed to get ahold of Roy's grill lighter and set fire to a small part of the house. Rick knew what Roy was attempting but Lisa was still irritated that the order for them to leave their daughter behind had been signed by Vice Admiral Fokker himself.

"Alright, fair point." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I know you're not happy with me Lisa. Hell, I'm not happy with me. But I have to look at the larger picture. The dangers you will be facing are completely unknown. All we know is these Masters are an even greater threat to us then Dolza was. And we all remember how unstable the Old Chrome Dome was."

Rick nodded, agreeing so far, even if he didn't agree. He knew Lisa also understood the reasons. And while she'd been able to keep it buried, it was flaring to the top as their departure from Earth was today. Roy rubbed his forehead before continuing.

"And yes, I know. It's cruel of me to break up families. But like it or not, the suggestion came from Fleet Admiral Gloval himself." He turned his gaze out the window to his right as the sun shone brightly. "And he's right. Children are the future. We need them here. Safe."

"I know Admiral." Lisa spoke, her voice empty of any irritation she felt at the situation. "And I agree. But no parent wants to be seperated from their children for an indeterminate time."

"I thought you were supposed to be the optimistic one here Admiral." Rick teased before getting elbowed in his side.

"Hush General." She directed at him. "Or you'll spend the first week on the SDF-3 sleeping on the couch."

That shut him up as Roy gave a small grin at the banter before him. Collecting himself, Roy rose to his feet and held a packet to Lisa who accepted it. Rick had a feeling he knew exactly what it was. "Admiral Hunter. By order of Fleet Admiral Gloval, you are ordered to depart to the SDF-3 and proceed with Operation Shield. Mission details are included in the docket along with every scarp of intel we have received as to the possible location of the Masters Homeworld."

Roy straightened and saluted to the two officers before him.

"God speed and good luck you two. Come back safe."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Rick eyed his hanger deck as the new VFA-6 Alphas were stowed and the final few munitions crates were hauled to the proper storage rooms. It was the first jump point outside SOL and Navigation needed time to properly verify the main systems that were, unfortunately, rushed. He saw Max and Ben approaching him from the corner of his vision, both looking worse for wear and Rick knew he himself didn't look much different. "Hey guys."

"Hey Boss." Ben greeted as Max nodded his greeting. "Any idea how long it'll take us to get where ever we are going?"

Rick sighed. "Unfortunately not. According the intel, we are basically reversing the course Breetai took to Earth. Like following a trail of breadcrumbs back to their start point."

"Let me guess." Max frowned. "We aren't even sure their start point is even the home world?"

"Bingo Max. So it's going to take us some time to get this mission done." Rick glanced at the two men. "The sooner the better in my opinion."

"How can we help make sure-" Ben began before a cry sounded through the bay.

"GET CLEAR! GET CLEAR!" A Red shirt was screaming as the ground crews scattered from an unsteady munitions rack. The three watched in almost slow motion as the rack holding the recon drones fell and slammed into the ground.

"EVERYONE GET DOWN!" Rick ordered as the drone's engine ignited and shot down the bay towards them. All crew in it's path dropped to the deck and Rick felt the heat from the exhaust as it passed over head before slamming hard into the bulkhead, the impact detonated the fuel cells in a spectacular display. The explosion set off a fire that threatened the fuel storage not even five meters from the impact point. Rick jumped to his feet and began to spring into action.

"CLEAR THE BAY!"

The crew scrambled to get to safety as Rick sprinted towards the manual release for the hanger doors. Ben and Max knew what he was going to do and moved as quick as they could for the oxygen tanks spread through out the bay in case of either fire or a hull breach. In this case, it was the surest way to ensure the fuel stores didn't go. Such an explosion could cripple the ship. Not to mention the massive loss of life from the explosion. Rick reached the release, grabbing the tank next to it and quickly strapped it on. He took one quick look around, seeing the bay deserted save for Max and Ben who had taken up position not to far from him. Rick closed his eyes briefly before wrapping his arm around the hand rail and grabbed the release with his other hand, yanking down hard. His mind flashed a question as to why he was doing this manually instead of from the control room, but he squahsed that due to the fact it would take several minutes to get to it, not to mention the safety overrides that would have prevented him from venting the bay if anyone was still inside.

A massive roaring sound drowned out the alarms that blared to life the moment the release was pulled. Rick gripped the rail as tight as he could, feeling the hurricane like pull on his body. Rick felt the tugging go away. His eyes opened as the air continued to escape and saw the fire had been extinguished. He braced himself and slammed the switch back to the close position and gave a sigh of relief as the doors sealed. Two minutes later, the bay had pressurized and damage control teams had entered along with medics to check on the three of them. Lisa entered the bay fifteen minutes later and saw Rick, an angry looking Rick, conversing with an equally as irritated Doctor Lang. Lisa didn't even pause, happy to see Rick was okay but knew what have had him this upset, she wouldn't like it any more than him.

"What happened?" She asked calmly.

"We have a saboteur on board."


End file.
